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NUCLEUS - ALLEYCAT
ARTIST:
TITLE:
Alleycat
LABEL:
CATNO:
BEWITH105LP
FORMAT:
Vinyl record
DESCRIPTION:
1975 Jazz/ Jazz Funk Repressed - Come for the leopard, stay for the stone cold jams. Yet another thrilling, funky-prog jazzy-rock fusion beauty from Ian Carr’s Nucleus. Originally released on Vertigo in 1975, Alleycat was never re-pressed so those original copies are now very tricky to score. Like all the Nucleus records, it’s aged ridiculously well and this Be With re-issue, re-mastered from the original analogue tapes, shows off just why this deserves to be back in press.
Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.
Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels. And the music has stayed relevant. To steal a line from a recent review of our re-issue of Roots, when it comes to anything Nucleus “it’s basically already hip-hop”.
Alleycat was the last Nucleus album recorded for the Vertigo label. Released in 1975, it was again meticulously produced by Jon Hiseman and is every bit as sinuous as anything else the group had recorded. As far as riff-laden accidental cop-funk goes, there’s so much energy coursing through the music that at times it sounds like a live recording. It’s pretty unbeatable.
Uptempo opener “Phaideaux Corner” is a funk-flavoured opus with a groove that simply swaggers. This trademark Roger Sutton piece benefits from Trevor Tomkins’s percussive expertise and some excellent sax and keyboard soloing. Check out Geoff Castle on squelchy, stabbing Moog duties. Ian Carr’s elegantly laidback title track is a lengthy suite of magisterial themes. Typically complex, it still gets you hooked and is just riddled with the funk. Carr builds up his initially “straight” trumpet solo with later use of echo to mesmeric effect. And there’s some excellent wah-wah guitar shredding by Ken Shaw too. Nice.
The second side opens with the killer “Splat” and finds Nucleus really ripping it up. A fat, funky bass guitar riff introduces us to the track and stays with us until the end. The often mangled bass groove is pushed along by rattling drums and percussion, dropping out for some restful moments of spacey calm, and along the way picking up some lengthy keyboard noodling by Castle. So so good.
The cool “You Can’t Be Sure” is a gentle jam with Shaw on 12-string acoustic guitar, together with Carr’s muted trumpet and some marvellous fretless work from Sutton for extra colour. The album closes with Bob Bertles’ galloping “Nosegay”, written perhaps as a response to some of the faster Mahavishnu Orchestra pieces. It’s an example of well crafted jazz-rock that doesn’t compromise any of its jazziness, yet it still very definitely rocks.
This Be With re-issue of Alleycat has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The cool AF cover - that leopard was just a cat before he heard Nucleus, you know - has been restored as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
Genius trumpeter and visionary composer Ian Carr was one of the most respected British musicians of his era. He was a true pioneer and saw the potential in fusing the worlds of jazz with rock, just as Miles Davis and The Tony Williams Lifetime did in the US. In late 1969, following the demise of the Rendell-Carr quintet, and tiring of British jazz, Carr assembled the legendary Nucleus. Regarding music as a continuous process, Nucleus refused to “recognise rigid boundaries” and worked on delivering what they saw as a “total musical experience”. We can get behind that.
Under bandleader Carr, Nucleus existed as a fluid line-up of inventive, skilled musicians. This constant evolution and revolution was all part of the continuous musical exploration and discovery that took jazz to new levels. And the music has stayed relevant. To steal a line from a recent review of our re-issue of Roots, when it comes to anything Nucleus “it’s basically already hip-hop”.
Alleycat was the last Nucleus album recorded for the Vertigo label. Released in 1975, it was again meticulously produced by Jon Hiseman and is every bit as sinuous as anything else the group had recorded. As far as riff-laden accidental cop-funk goes, there’s so much energy coursing through the music that at times it sounds like a live recording. It’s pretty unbeatable.
Uptempo opener “Phaideaux Corner” is a funk-flavoured opus with a groove that simply swaggers. This trademark Roger Sutton piece benefits from Trevor Tomkins’s percussive expertise and some excellent sax and keyboard soloing. Check out Geoff Castle on squelchy, stabbing Moog duties. Ian Carr’s elegantly laidback title track is a lengthy suite of magisterial themes. Typically complex, it still gets you hooked and is just riddled with the funk. Carr builds up his initially “straight” trumpet solo with later use of echo to mesmeric effect. And there’s some excellent wah-wah guitar shredding by Ken Shaw too. Nice.
The second side opens with the killer “Splat” and finds Nucleus really ripping it up. A fat, funky bass guitar riff introduces us to the track and stays with us until the end. The often mangled bass groove is pushed along by rattling drums and percussion, dropping out for some restful moments of spacey calm, and along the way picking up some lengthy keyboard noodling by Castle. So so good.
The cool “You Can’t Be Sure” is a gentle jam with Shaw on 12-string acoustic guitar, together with Carr’s muted trumpet and some marvellous fretless work from Sutton for extra colour. The album closes with Bob Bertles’ galloping “Nosegay”, written perhaps as a response to some of the faster Mahavishnu Orchestra pieces. It’s an example of well crafted jazz-rock that doesn’t compromise any of its jazziness, yet it still very definitely rocks.
This Be With re-issue of Alleycat has been re-mastered from the original Vertigo master tapes, Simon Francis’ mastering working together with Pete Norman’s cut to weave their usual magic with these wonderful recordings. The cool AF cover - that leopard was just a cat before he heard Nucleus, you know - has been restored as the finishing touch to this long overdue re-issue.
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Last FM Information on Nucleus
Please note the information is done on a artist keyword match and data is provided by LastFM.
At least five bands/artists have been called Nucleus.
1. Nucleus were a pioneering jazz-rock band from the U.K., who continued in different incarnations from 1969 to 1985. In their first year they won first prize at the Montreux Jazz Festival, released their first album (Elastic Rock), and performed both at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Village Gate jazz club.
They were led by Ian Carr, who had been in The Don Rendell & Ian Carr Quintet during the mid and late 1960s, and was a respected figure in British jazz for more than forty years. Their jazz-based music evolved from an early sound incorporating elements of progressive and psychedelic rock towards a funkier sound in the mid and late 1970s.
In August 2005 a special one-off reincarnation of Nucleus, with old and new members, performed at London's Cargo venue, to an enthusiastic reception.
Carr died on 25th February 2009, aged seventy-five..
*Official site
2. Nucleus isa performing name of Dave Sims, who started dj'ing in 1986 mixing and scratching hip hop and funk breaks after hearing double d and steinski's lessons and grandmaster flash adventures on the wheels of steel, this inspired him to buy a 4-track tape recorder and start making break mixes and hip hop tunes with local mc's.
In about 1988 started going to raves and clubs like the dungeon, telepathy and then later paradise club (awol) and getting into house and early breakbeat and djing at parties and raves staying with the music as it evolved through hardcore, jungle to drum and bass.
In 1996 Nucleus started making tunes with Devparadox for nine bar records, made 2 12's and 1 album as "noise and paradox."
In 97 the duo started recording for th legendery Reinforced records with a 12" "Esoteric funk/places and spaces" as "Nucleus and paradox " and a track past, present, future on the Enforcers Lp.Followed by another 12" "this side of fore ever/decompositions".At the same time releasing a12" on" 720 records"(goodlooking) "the nautilus"and "Nexus records"(good looking) "Project 2/Persistence of vision" as "Alaska and Nucleus".
The duo worked on various remixes including "4-Hero" for talking loud and James Hardway. The next 12" was "who? What?/No spaced place" for Reinforced in 2000.followed by tracks as Nucleus on the deadly chambers Enforcers Lp and a 12" on Reinforced called "Gravity point/ Flim flam" and a track "suspended animation" on the Scattered Snares lp on Marc macs Twisted funk label.2000 also saw the release of 2 bboy break mixtapes with Break dj Leacy.
Over the years Nucleus has Djed at various events in Germany,France,Holland,Hungary,United states,Russia,Croatia,Australia,Switzerland,Norway and UK playing drum and bass,funk,jazz,hip hop,house,disco,breaks,broken beat etc,and can be found playing at various clubs/bars/parties in London.
2002 saw the return of nucleus and paradox with 12"s on US label Offshore,Paradox music, the Esoteric funk lp on Reinforced, and the creation of "Esoteric", a label exclusively for Nucleus/ Paradox material.
September 2005 saw Nucleus and Paradox debut 12" on Metalheadz ,12bit/Aragon.
2007 also saw the creation of Styles,Nucleus and Dj Trax monthly all nighter in london,featuring a mix of funk ,hip hop,disco,house,broken beat and anything else with the funk.
Esoteric is going strong into 2008 with 10 releases,getting excellent reviews and regular plays by many of the scenes top djs including Goldie,Flight,Marky,Marcus intalex.
2008 is set to be a busy year with various gigs around europe and a US tour with Dj Trax in the pipeline.
www.myspace.com/nucleus3000
http://i.coopr8.net/profile/nucleus
http://www.virb.com/nucleus
3. Nucleus is a jam band from Humboldt County California.
Originally conceived as an acid jazz/fusion project in 2000, Nucleus has played over 500 shows around the country from bars to festivals and everything in between. Morphing into a rock trio in 2003, Nucleus continued to hit the road hard and accomplish eveything on their own drive and determination. After a few years making a name on the east coast, the band returned to Northern California to pursue its next phase of evolution. The band built a studio and began producing its own albums, kicking off with 2005's The Art of Reaching. Longtime collaborator/keyboardist Brian Swizlo joined the band during this time and the latest incarnation of Nucleus was formed. Swizlo has been an in-demand fixture of the Humboldt music scene since the 1990s as well as an L.A. session player and hip-hop producer with an instantly recognizable musical touch. With continued touring and a maturing sound, Nucleus is wowing broad audiences and gearing up for a promising 2007. With distribution from the Homegrown Music Network, CD baby, Rhapsody and itunes, Nucleus is steadily growing and widening its audience. Nucleus has released five albums to date with the sixth, Love and Gold scheduled for release in Summer 2007.
4. Nucleus is a death metal band from Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in January of 2012, originally comprised of Christian Guajardo (Guitars), Dave Muntean (Guitars, Vocals), Daniel-Josef Williams (Bass), and Michael Manfredini (Drums). This lineup recorded their debut single, "Nibiru (Arrival of the Ancients) and their debut demo, "Contact", respectively. Later in 2012, original guitarist Christian Guajardo left the band to focus on non-musical endeavors and was replaced by Dan Ozcanli. In the 2013, the band would see the departure of Daniel-Josef Williams after the recording of "The Colony" EP. Ryan Reynolds stepped in to fulfill the role of bassist shortly thereafter. After the recording of the "Hegemony" EP, Michael was removed from the band and replaced by Pat O'Hara in 2015. Due to the positive reviews and heavy circulation of "Hegemony", Nucleus was approached by Unspeakable Axe Records in 2015. The band signed with the label in May of that year. With the final addition of Pat behind the drums, the band recorded their debut album "Sentient" which was released by Unspeakable Axe Records on April 15th, 2016. Due to the positive reception surrounding "Sentient", the band has appeared in Stereogum, Metal Injection, Metalsucks, and Decibel Magazine, respectively.
Releases:
"Nibiru (Arrival of the Ancients)" Single - 2012
"Contact" Demo - 2012
"The Colony" EP - August 2013 - Anopsys Records
"Hegemony" EP - January 2015
"Sentient" LP - April 2016
www.facebook.com/nucleusmetal
5. Nucleus was a progressive rock band, based in Sydney Australia from 2005 to 2009. They have since changed their name to Breaking Orbit.
6. Nucleus was also czech alternative band from Brno (1981 - 1985) http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/specialy/bigbit/kapely/1672-nucleus/ Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.